World chess champion Gukesh and Indian chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand at a celebratory function for the former in Bengaluru on Sunday, 05 January 2025.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
In mid-December, with the World Chess Championship match tied at 6.5-6.5 after 13 games, D. Gukesh and Ding Liren had seemingly fought each other to a standstill even in the 14th outing.
Gukesh had started thinking about a potential tie-breaker when a rook blunder from the defending champion let in that ray of light the Indian, until then, had no hope of finding.
Since then, that brilliant shaft has morphed into a kind of eternal sunshine, and on a crisp winter Sunday at the Good Shepherd Auditorium, scores of fans, predominantly children and enthusiastic parents, basked under it.
“It brings back the spotlight to chess,” said five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand of Gukesh’s win, at the celebratory programme organised by WestBridge Capital.
Indian chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand feliciatates World chess champion Gukesh at a celebratory function for the later in Bengaluru on Sunday, 05 January 2025.
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN
“It’s possible that at every single tournament there is an Indian playing, whom you can look forward to watching. Imagine every morning you wake up and see a tournament and there is something to root for. The audience numbers are very good; we have regular broadcast… a lot of the dots have been connected.
“These players [Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa etc.] have all grown up together. The rivalry is also there along with the friendship. They seem genuinely happy for each other, but they are very motivated to achieve the same thing or take it even higher. If this continues, it is fantastic for India,” Anand added.
Anand also praised Gukesh’s persistence against Liren. “Gukesh never really changed the strategy of pushing. Unexpected things happened during the match, but he was there the next day, pushing again. The rook [blunder] didn’t happen in a vacuum”.
Gukesh, who was chosen for Indian sport’s ultimate honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, last Thursday, soaked in all the applause, but already had his eyes set on the future.
World chess champion D. Gukesh at the celebratory function in Bengaluru on Sunday, 05 January 2025.
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN
“2025 will be very tough,” he said. “I am very happy about the World Championship win, but that is in the past. I have started thinking about new goals. I want to continue to give my best, keep improving and win as many tournaments as possible. It will be a fun year with a lot of learnings, and hopefully a lot of good results”.
Published – January 05, 2025 09:26 pm IST
